Shine
by Methos2523
Summary: With Halloween night planned ahead, Ethan makes the deadly mistake of involving someone real in his chaos, someone who doesn't take kindly to being yanked across the ocean by mystical means and forced into another body, leaving Sunnydale forever changed, along with a few other surprises for the Slayer and her friends...


Title: Shine

Author: Methos - Methosfanfic

Disclaimer: None of the original characters or concepts belong to me, Buffy, Xander and co belong to Joss Whedon… All the other characters dragged kicking and screaming into this by my muse belong to their original owners...

AN: Sorry guys, this was supposed to be posted for Halloween, but work stuff got the best of me. Hope the read is worth the wait :)

* * *

Freezing in action as reality flooded back to view was the only thing that came to mind, the scene around him, including him, was something straight out of one of his comics or horror books. His left arm was outstretched, holding on to the remains of some statue or something, the rest of it crumbling to the floor and crashing to the grey tiles underfoot. His right arm was what was horrific though, his hand, nearly up to his elbow, was plunged through the chest of a man he was sure he recognised, blood dripping down the red trench coat he was still wearing and onto the floor.

The man attached to his arm was simply gurgling, blood coming up from his mouth and dripping down his neck, the entire scene made even more macabre being tinted deep red from the sunglasses that were still perched on his face.

"Gah!" Xander shouted out, still frozen to the spot, not knowing what to do, the entire prospect of having his forearm thrust through another human body was making the bile rise in his throat, the fact he could feel the blood, and other bits he didn't want to think about, even through the fabric of the coat and his jacket, was making it even worse.

As the weight of the body pushed against his arm he slowly lowered it, gravity taking over as the body slid from his arm with a sickening sound of suction, sliding past the white glove that was now stained dark red with blood, where it slid to the floor with a slump. Blood and other bits of flesh sliding down his jacket and onto the floor where they dropped to the tiles with a sickening slap of wet flesh against cold tiling.

As he looked down at the scene he sank to his knees, biology and shock taking over as he emptied his stomach in a rather pyrotechnic display of vomit over the tiles, the red sunglasses falling from his face onto the floor where one of the red lenses cracked against the tiles before settling in a pool of blood.

Wiping his mouth with his other arm, the one not soaked in blood, he scooted back on the floor away from the body, the red trench coat sliding easily on the tiles as he pushed himself back in panic, impacting the wall of the room and simply sitting there in shock, looking around at the blood and destruction that littered the room he was in.

As he looked around he recognised where he was, and more specifically who the man was who was currently bleeding to death on the floor. He could see out of the door on the far side of the room, out into a lit area he recognised as the costume shop he'd been to with Buffy and Willow earlier in the day, the same place he'd returned to afterwards without the girls to fetch a different costume.

"Oh god," He whispered out as he looked around, the hideous scene in front of him coming through in sharp clarity, a view he knew he'd never forget as long as he lived. Which, if the body in front of him was any indication, would be a long time in a prison cell somewhere.

Another noise echoed through the room, this one a small bell followed by the scraping of metal that screeched in his ears. He couldn't even look up as the sound of footsteps came closer, the scene in front of him keeping his attention locked on the sight and smell of the blood and vomit on the floor.

"Good god!"

He looked up as he recognised the voice, tearing his view away from the body and looking at the doorway, the voice he recognised came into sharp clarity as he saw Giles stood in the doorway, clad in his usual tweed suit, it was a more beautiful sight than he'd ever seen.

"Giles?" He asked hopefully, looking up across the room, blood still dripping from his right arm and onto the floor where he sat in shock.

"Xander?" Giles asked in equal shock, looking down at him before striding across the room and kneeling down. "Xander, what happened? Are you, is Buffy…"

"I don't know," Xander answered honestly in a quiet voice. "I just… he… then…"

"Willow managed to find me," Giles explained. "I'd rather hoped I could end this before anyone was unduly hurt." He explained, looking back at the body in the middle of the room that had now stopped breathing or gurgling blood, and simply lie there in silence. "Might I assume that you…"

"Arm…" Xander trailed off, gesturing to his right arm that was coated in blood. "He… he was on my arm…"

"Good lord," Giles whispered, looking from the body where the rather large puncture wound in the chest was evident, and then over to Xander's right arm that was shining with sickly red blood against the red fabric of the coat he was wearing. "Xander, this is important. Who gave you that costume?"

"He… he did," Xander whispered, nodding to the body on the floor. "I… soldier, I was going as a soldier, but I came back to get some dog tags and he gave me this instead, said it was to surprise an old friend of his."

"And you wore it?" Giles asked in shock, looking down at the black suit Xander was wearing under the coat, and noting the scruffily tied red silk cravat around his neck.

"It was better than the soldier outfit I had," Xander whispered out. "Giles, what… who… I… I killed him."

"I rather think it was the owner of the clothes you are wearing, not you Xander," Giles explained softly, standing up and sliding one arm under Xander's dry arm to help him up. "One, if I'm not mistaken, Ethan should have bloody well known not to include in his stupidity."

"Giles, what, wh… huh?" Xander asked, looking over as Giles helped him up, another piece of flesh sliding from his arm and dropping to the floor.

"Not here," Giles frowned, stepping forward over a pool of blood and helping Xander do the same. "Oh my," He whispered as Xander managed to stand up fully under his own weight, standing clear above him. Where Xander had stood at a reasonable height for his age before, now he was clearly above six feet tall, towering over him with ease as he looked up and noted the blood red eyes looking down at him.

"Giles, freaking out here!" Xander stated as he looked around, his newfound height making him feel somewhat awkward against Giles, who had been a few inches taller than him before.

"Ye… yes, quite," Giles stammered out, shaking off a quite horrific thought as he looked up at the messy black hair that flowed around Xander's head and down his back. "The… the wig I assume?" He trailed off, watching as Xander reached up automatically before grabbing his hair, the wig in question not moving, instead tugging at his scalp and leaving a bloody mess on his hair.

"What?!" Xander exclaimed, testing the wig he'd been wearing again and finding it firmly part of his body, his dark brown hair now replaced with wild and unruly black hair that seemed to fly out at one side of its own accord.

"I rather think we should return to the library," Giles said quickly, not wanting Xander to freak out any more than he had done already. The bloody scene around them making him more than a bit nervous as it was obvious the blood in the air would likely attract the wrong sort of attention sooner or later.

* * *

Some five and a half thousand miles from Sunnydale, in a large crypt underneath the Hellsing compound just outside of London, Alucard awoke, an odd bemused look on his face as he looked around before staring down at his hand, seemingly admiring the white gloves he was wearing for a moment.

"Interesting," Alucard said with a smile, that soon stretched into a grin. "Oh yes, this could be very interesting." He said before breaking into a laugh as he stood up, his fangs glinting in the low light of the crypt as he walked through it, intent on heading up into the main Hellsing compound.

"Perhaps Walter will know what this Twinkie is," He grinned to himself before laughing again and opening the door to head up the stairs to see if either Integra or Seras knew of anything that had happened tonight.

* * *

"What's happened to me?" Xander whispered out, still in shock over what had happened in such a short amount of time.

"Xander!" Giles barked out before collecting himself and looking up at the startlingly taller man now. "This is neither the time nor the place, I apologise, but we should get back to the library and check on Buffy and the others."

"Buffy!" Xander exclaimed, catching on to what Giles was saying. "Oh god, this… if I dressed as this and turned into…"

"Yes, quite," Giles nodded hastily. "Willow took the form of a ghost it appears, and informed me Buffy was possessed somehow by the costume she had been wearing, like you I would assume."

"But… she… she was a noble woman thing!" Xander said quickly. "Not Buffy."

"Yes, indeed," Giles nodded along. "As such you can understand that if you have been altered by tonight's events, then it is likely others along the path may have been as well."

"We've got to find them." Xander said with urgency, stepping out of Giles hold and towards the door, his longer legs now making easy strides across the bloody tiles and out into the costume store itself.

Giles simply followed, watching as the red trench coat bellowed out from behind Xander as he walked, the scene eerily reminiscent of books he knew he had back at the library, describing one of the Watcher's sister organisations most deadly assets. "Good lord Ethan, what have you done?" He asked in a whisper, taking one last look back at the crumpled and bloody body of his old friend before following Xander out into the main costume shop.

The night outside was still quite warm, the stars and moon above lighting up the night well enough, though to Xander it might as well have been daylight as he looked around, seeing far better than he had ever done before, though the stench of blood from inside the costume shop and remains that were coating his arm was still overpowering.

Children were roaming the streets, crying and looking around for their parents or anyone that could help them, their masks discarded now and wearing little remnants of their costumes like cloaks and pumpkin style baskets that were empty of the treats they'd come out in search of.

"What happened?" Xander asked, looking around at where Giles was coming out of the costume store behind him and making sure the door was closed firmly behind them.

"A rather sick individual," Giles explained. "One the possessor of your costume saw fit to deal with before I could intervene it appears." He said with a slight frown at he looked up at the taller man. "A spell," He explained as he saw Xander's questioning look. "One that appears to have been written to transform people into the costumes they were wearing for the night. Costumes specifically purchased from this store." He explained further.

"The guy I killed," Xander said softly, looking down at his blood soaked arm before moving to pull the coat off of himself, only stopping when he pulled open one side to slide it down his arm and noticing the glint of metal underneath. "Uh, Giles?" Xander asked, staring inside the trench coat at the rather large handgun that was nestled there in a custom holster fitted to the inside of the coat. "Is that…" He asked quietly as he reached in, sliding the very large handgun out and holding it out in the night.

"Good lord," Giles whispered, staring at the gun that was easily over a foot long before taking off his glasses and polishing them fervently. "Is that…"

"Feels real," Xander nodded emphatically, the weight and feel of the gun; even through the white glove he was wearing, told him the large hand gun was certainly not a foam prop of any sort. "And another." He said with a nod, using the first gun to peel aside the bloody side of his coat where another large hand gun, the second one a dark black instead of the silver gun he was holding, was nestled in a similar holster.

"Please, put those away," Giles said quietly, looking around and hoping no one else was taking note of them as Xander was staring at the gun he was holding. "I rather think discretion would be a more suitable tactic to return us to the school where we can contact Buffy and Willow."

"Oh, yeah, right," Xander nodded quickly, sliding the large handgun back inside his coat, inwardly frowning at how right they felt in his hand and how easily he was holding what must have been over five kilograms of metal in his hand.

"Giles?"

Both Xander and Giles turned around at the voice calling out, catching sight of Buffy and Cordelia walking towards them, though while Buffy was still in her burgundy gown, it was pretty obvious from the way she'd discarded the wig that it was her, and not anyone possessing her body still. Likewise, Cordelia was still dressed in quite a form fitting catsuit, with ears and tail still neatly in place, though again she was obviously still Cordelia and not an actual feline, as Willow had explained earlier.

"Oh wow, Xander?" Buffy asked out as they got closer, the height difference in Xander becoming more apparent as Buffy now barely made it up to his chest level.

"Xander?" Cordelia asked in shock, staring up at Xander's form and catching his blood red eyes. "Xander?" She asked again, this time more of a whisper as a little part inside her told her to run away as fast as she can from where Xander was towering over them all.

"Are both of you alright?" Giles asked, looking at Buffy first and then to Cordelia.

"No," Cordelia shook her head. "Look at my outfit, my deposit is ruined."

"Yes, quite," Giles sighed, taking it from that statement that Cordelia was fine. "Buffy?" He asked, looking back to her.

"I'm good," Buffy nodded. "Spike got a face full of my fist though, ran away before I could finish him though." She explained. "Take it you managed to turn us back, or whatever happened, undo whatever or whatever?"

"I rather think that you have Xander to thank for that," Giles said with a nod. "Though quite why he hasn't returned to his previous self when the both of you seem fine, is quite beyond me."

"Hey," Cordelia frowned at him. "It was Miss Useless here who changed, and ghost girl, the freakiness happened to them not me."

"Yes, of course," Giles nodded with a sigh.

"What happened?" Buffy asked out, looking up at Xander, the Slayer inside her shrinking back in fear but standing her ground forcefully. "Who…" She whispered out, catching sight of the red eyes looking back at her.

"Someone I'd rather not mention until I'm sure," Giles said swiftly, before Xander could answer. "Though if I am correct, I rather shudder to think what Ethan could have been thinking in acquiring such a costume for this night."

"Huh?" Xander asked, looking over at Giles.

Instantly a stake was in Buffy's hand, her stance putting herself between Giles and Xander as she glared up at him. "What are you?" She demanded, the Slayer inside her still shrinking away from Xander but forcefully protecting the ones she's claimed as hers.

"Buffy, don't…" Giles trailed off, realising too late as Xander stepped back, moving his hands up to surrender and explain, only Buffy simply charged forward, her stake primed before she thrust it sharply into Xander's chest, having had to reach up past her head height to do so, pushing him to the floor before she collapsed on top of him, the stake embedded in his chest and clean through his heart as she landed on top of him, straddling his legs as she held onto the stake.

"No poof?" Buffy whispered, her eyes going wide as Xander simply looked up at her from the ground. "No poof?" She asked, looking back at Giles.

"You staked Xander!" Cordelia shrieked out. "What are you, crazy girl still?"

"He's a vampire!" Buffy defended herself in a quiet voice, though the lack of dust underneath her told her quite different.

"And no blood," Giles said thoughtfully. "I assume you are still in one piece, in a manner of speaking?" He asked, looking down at Xander who was still staring at Buffy in shock.

"He's a vampire, why didn't he dust?" Buffy demanded, flicking her eyes between Giles and the stake still embedded in Xander's chest. "Vampires go poof, it's what they do!"

"Not this one," Giles said, rubbing his forehead with his hand. "If you'd please release him, I can quite assure you that that is still Xander and not a vampire for you to take care of."

"It tickles," Xander said simply, drawing everyone's attention back to him. "I'm a vampire?" He asked in shock, his eyes going wide and letting everyone see the blood red colour they had taken on.

"Uhuh," Buffy nodded, still straddling him. "Fangs, see." She said, pointing to his mouth.

"Freaking out here more Giles!" Xander said quickly, feeling the fangs in his mouth with his tongue before looking up at Giles.

"Yes, quite, feel free to freak out, as you say, about your fangs, but ignore the stake currently stuck through your heart." Giles said in frustration, rubbing his face with his hands and ignoring the urge to roll his eyes at the young man's antics.

"Oh," Buffy said in a small voice, looking down at where she was still holding the stake that was puncturing through Xander's charcoal coloured suit and into his heart.

"Yes, if you would…" Giles trailed off as Buffy pulled the stake free, a sickening pop echoed through the street as she pulled the stake out before the wound, and the jacket itself, closed in seconds before her eyes. "Oh my," He whispered out in shock.

"Neat," Cordelia said with a shrug. "Wish mine did that." She said simply.

"If you'd please let Xander up Buffy," Giles said firmly. "He was as much as a victim in this as you were tonight."

"But… vampire?" Buffy said, still straddling Xander and looking down at his eyes and fangs.

"Yes, and not one you are equipped to deal with." Giles said firmly. "Now, if you would." He trailed off, stepping back to give Buffy room to stand up and away from Xander.

"Stake proof vamps?" Xander asked as he watched Buffy stand up, not wanting to make any sudden moves in case he got staked again, which while wasn't wholly unpleasant, was still quite a shock to his body.

"Not what you would know as a vampire I'm quite sure," Giles said with a frown as he watched Xander stand up, his form now quite intimidating as he caught a glimpse of the large gun under his jacket as he stood up. "The demonic vampires are quite different to the breed we are speaking of here, something I must research further before any more discussion I'm afraid."

"Hey, discussion is kinda needed here," Xander said firmly. "I'm a vampire Giles!" He all but shouted.

"In all but name yes," Giles nodded slowly in agreement, having heard stories at the Watchers Council about what the Hellsing's pet vampire was actually capable of.

"You're tall though," Cordelia broke in, moving to stand beside Xander and looking up at him. "The hair is kind of freaky though, and the eyes, 'cause red is so last year."

"Cordelia, please," Giles sighed, rubbing his forehead again in frustration.

"Spill Giles," Buffy said with a glare. "What's with the poof proof vamps?" She asked with a frown. "Are all British vamps poof proof?"

"I beg of you, please stop asking that," Giles said with a frown. "But no, the vampires that we seem to be dealing with here, are quite a breed apart from the demonic variety the Slayer normally encounters. A breed quite unlike any other really, thankfully I should add, given their strength and near diabolical aptitude for the dark arts and regeneration."

"Huh?" Buffy asked with wide eyes.

"Needless to say, the Slayer is quite ill equipped to deal with a true Nosferatu," Giles said with a sigh, simplifying it down as much as possible. "The Watchers do their best to keep the Slayer away from areas where beings like this are known, though that said, as far as I am aware there are only very few true Nosferatu remaining."

"Good," Buffy nodded. "'Cause, stake proof vamps, kinda sucks to be a slayer, 'specially if they're all like that." She said, looking up at Xander again.

"I assure you, this is still Xander," Giles said emphatically. "As I explained, a true Nosferatu is quite unlike a demonic vampire."

"Yeah, what he said, but with less words." Xander nodded quickly. "I'm still me, I'm still me right?" He asked, an edge of panic in his voice as he looked at Giles.

"Quite," Giles nodded with a sigh.

"Just taller," Cordelia said, attempting to be helpful. "And with the eyes and hair, and still with the bad fashion sense."

"Thanks Cor, really helping." Xander shot back with a smirk.

"Hey, don't get snippy with me," Cordelia glared up. "You're the one that dressed as a vampire."

"I didn't know it was a vampire," Xander shot back with a similar glare, his red eyes making it all the more effective.

"Probably just wanted to be one up on Angel to get with Buffy," Cordelia snapped back. "Like necro-girl there would ever…" She trailed off as she watched Xander reach inside his coat, the fluid motion quite unlike the clumsy geek Xander had been before, as a very large silver handgun was brought out in a single motion, seemingly appearing from nowhere without disturbing the way his trench coat fell across his chest.

"Xander!" Giles shouted, breaking Xander out of an almost trancelike state as he fired the gun. The report echoing through the street almost like a canon firing, sending Cordelia screeching to the ground as the bullet flew past her, catching her hair lightly before travelling on and impacting a vampire that had been trying to sneak up on them, causing the vampire to explode into dust before it even hit the ground from the impact.

"Good lord," Giles whispered, looking at where the vampire had exploded. "I… you… good grief." He whispered, staring at where Xander was still holding the gun out steadily.

"Vampire," Xander said simply, looking down at Cordelia with the explanation. "Unless you want to be a snack?" He asked with a grin, the sight slightly unnerving as it showed his fangs clearly in the street light.

"What…" Buffy trailed off, Xander's arm reaching past her like she wasn't even there, the gun around her head height as she looked at it, staring at the inscription along the shining metal barrel of the weapon. "Hellsing arms four five four Casull?" Buffy read off, looking at the inscription and the sheer size of the gun in awe.

"Xander, please," Giles whispered, looking at the gun that was easily larger that Buffy's head.

"He gets vamp killer guns?" Buffy asked in shock, still staring at the huge gun. "And ow!" She said, slapping Xander's chest lightly. "Warning next time, deaf girl here now." She said, rubbing her ears lightly.

"Instinct," Xander said with a shrug as he slid the gun away again, exhibiting the same smooth motion as before.

"Quite," Giles said with a frown, staring at how Xander had replaced the gun without even moving his coat aside. "As I was saying, perhaps it would be best we made our way back to the library. With the chaos from tonight's events, culminating in quite a loud gunshot, I would think the police would be on their way rather soon."

"Oh!" Buffy nodded. "Let's go." She said quickly.

"You could have killed me you freak!" Cordelia shouted as she stood up, glaring up at Xander as she stepped over and poked him in the chest. "When did you even learn how to shoot a gun like that anyway?" She all but screamed.

"Cordelia," Buffy said in a quiet voice, noticing how Xander was staring down at her, specifically at her stomach where something had scratched her catsuit before she'd found her and Willow at her house, even more specifically at the blood that was easily visible on the clothing now she'd stretched her stomach from falling and had reopened the wound.

"What?" Cordelia demanded, turning to glare at Buffy before following her gaze and seeing what she was staring at. "Don't even think it vamp boy!" Cordelia shouted, glaring back at Xander. "God, freaks, the lot of you!" She shouted into the air as she stormed off away from them.

"Uh, should we…" Xander frowned, watching as Cordelia left.

"I rather think it best we let he be," Giles said with a frown. "At least until I can further research what has happened here and the nature of your…"

"Vampdom?" Xander asked hesitantly.

"Transformation, I was going to say," Giles said softly. "Perhaps a way to reverse this transformation as such, though normally I would be reluctant to try such advanced magics without knowing precisely how the feat was managed in the first place."

"Oh," Xander said, looking down at the ground.

"Yes, quite," Giles nodded as Xander caught on. "As such, I would be remiss not to inform you of any knowledge I have of this Nosferatu, specifically if it turns out, as I believe, the one in question that Ethan somehow procured the clothing from."

"Huh?" Buffy asked, looking at Giles questioningly.

"I believe the clothing Xander is wearing belongs to a specific Nosferatu," Giles explained. "One quite famous within the Watcher halls, who currently works for a sister organisation at the Round Table."

"What, King Arthur's knights and stuff?" Xander asked curiously.

"Not as such, though perhaps closer than you would believe," Giles said with a nod. "There are various organisations around the world that hunt vampires, The Watchers, and Hellsing are but two of them."

"Hellsing, I know that one." Xander nodded. "The guy that killed Dracula in the books."

"Yes, though the novel Dracula hardly does the vampire in question credit," Giles nodded. "Shall we?" He gestured for them to walk while he continued explaining things.

* * *

Three hours later they were sat in the library, while Buffy and Willow were sat at the table, talking between themselves, Giles was in the office talk agitatedly on the phone with someone from the Watchers Council, trying his best to gather as much information about contacting the Hellsing organisation as he could.

Xander simply sat on the stairs in the corner, watching and listening. He'd first gone to the washrooms in the school, the blood soaked jacket and gloves were now bagged up in Giles' office ready to be disposed of as soon as possible, leaving him sat there in a charcoal suit, where he'd taken the red silk cravat off, stuffing it in his pocket before loosening the shirt collar underneath.

Even though Buffy and Willow were talking in hushed whispers, he could hear them easily without even trying, he could hear everything, the way Giles' was nearly shouting down the phone, the snappy British accent on the other side telling him that the Hellsing Organisation wasn't to be trusted because of the way they allowed vampires to work alongside their agents. Everything was heightened, the smells of the cleaning products the janitors had been using in the halls, some odd smells from Giles' office, cleaning products again but mixed with a metallic taste. The smell of blood was still as strong as ever, no matter how much he'd washed his hands he could still smell it, almost taste it in the air.

"So he's like Angel now?" Willow asked in a whisper, giving Xander a quick worried glance before turning back to Buffy at the table.

"I guess," Buffy whispered back with a shrug. "But he didn't go poof, vampires should go poof right?"

"But it's Xander!" Willow whispered back in shock.

"Xander wouldn't want to be a vampire," Buffy defended herself surely. "After Jesse, he'd want me to stake him." She said with a whispered nod.

"I guess," Willow whispered back. "But he's still Xander right, not a vampire?"

"He's not human," Buffy whispered, casting a worried glance back at Xander. "I staked him and he said it tickled." She said, slightly worried about that fact. "Giles won't even tell me anything about this type of vampire, I didn't even know vampires had types, I'm the Slayer, and I didn't know that?"

"Maybe Giles didn't want to worry you," Willow whispered, trying to console her friend. "Stake proof vampires aren't exactly good for Slayers right?"

"I guess," Buffy said with a nod. "I mean…"

"I can't do this," Xander said suddenly, standing up without warning from the stairs. "The smells, you guys talking about me like I'm not here…" He trailed off with a glare at Buffy and Willow. "No." He said simply, unbuttoning the jacket for a more casual look as he walked past the library office and towards the main doors.

"You can't go," Buffy said firmly, standing up from the table and staring at Xander. "Giles' has to fix you."

"I'm not staying here so you can all talk about my freakiness behind my back." Xander said firmly, turning around to stare down at Buffy. "And I'm not like Angel." He said with a nod, more to reassure himself than anything, before he turned around and moved towards the doors again.

"No Xander," Buffy said just as firmly, darting forwards and moving in front of Xander. "Stay." She said with a glare, looking up the extra foot or two to Xander's blood red eyes.

"Buffy, get out of my way." Xander said, moving to the side so he could go around her. "I'm not a dog for you to order around."

"You're staying here." Buffy said, stepping in front of him again and pushing him backwards. "Giles can't fix you if you're not here."

"And what if he can't fix me at all?" Xander shouted back, stepping forwards again from where Buffy had pushed him so he was barely a foot away from her, his new height towering over the Slayer with ease. "You think I want this? To be a demon?" He shouted down at her. "Just leave me alone." He shouted before using one hand to push Buffy aside, not even noticing how easy it was to practically fling Buffy out of his way before he stormed out of the library, the doors left swinging behind him as Buffy fell to the side by the index card drawers, nearly falling to the floor from the strength Xander had pushed her with.

"Buffy!" Willow shouted, running over to check she was alright.

"He's not Xander anymore," Buffy said, turning to glare at the library doors.

"He's right," Willow said, looking Buffy in the eyes. "We were talking about him like he wasn't there, he heard it all."

"So?" Buffy said, looking back at her.

"How would you feel if you were stuck as the noble woman and we just talked about you without asking you anything?" Willow asked softly.

"I… I didn't think…" Buffy trailed off, thinking about how this must have looked from Xander's point of view. "He's so strong." She said softly. "We should go after him." She said after a moment.

"And do what precisely?" Giles asked, standing in the doorway. "I would have thought you would have shown more regard for Xander's position Buffy, given how you reacted to the news of the prophecy regarding The Master." Giles said with a frown. "I seem to recall you displaying a rather distinct displeasure to others talking about your fate without involving you in the discussion."

"That was different." Buffy said firmly, looking back at Giles.

"Because it involved you?" Giles asked firmly. "Perhaps you should give Xander the same courtesy you demanded of Angel and I, given the situation, and Xander's dislike of vampires in general, I was doing my best to break the news to him as gently as possible, while the two of you discussing him while stringently distancing him from your group would have certainly angered him somewhat I can imagine."

"But… he's Xander." Buffy said quickly.

"You just said he wasn't," Willow argued back.

"Quite," Giles nodded, staring over at Buffy. "Which is it? He is either your friend or not, regardless of the transformation that was forced upon him. I would think you would have wished others to treat you the same, if a similar position were to be forced upon yourself."

* * *

The night felt completely different to him, he wasn't sure how to exactly explain it to himself, or to anyone else for that matter, but the night, where the darkness had always held vampires and demons to prey on the inhabitants of Sunnydale before, was now oddly beautiful.

The moon and stars lit up the night with enough light for him to see everything, the way the shadows played around, the smells of people and wildlife that caught his nose every so often as the wind picked up, the sounds of people moving around in their homes, putting children to bed and reassuring them that there we no monsters hiding under the bed.

It was all like a white noise in his head, but as soon as he focused on one thing, the rest of it all ebbed away. It felt like he'd been standing on the street corner for hours, simply looking around, listening to the sounds with an odd smile on his face.

The most unnerving fact was that he wasn't afraid anymore, he was out, standing in the middle of Sunnydale at night, where demons and vampires and god knows what else ran around, feeding on people and killing them, and he was simply stood there, not even worried about what else might be around him.

The two large handguns were still in their holsters, neatly tucked above his waistline on either side of his stomach, both in easy access for a quick draw should the need arise, but a little voice in his head was telling him that as much as the hilariously large guns were reassuring him of his safety, he wouldn't need them to protect himself, not anymore.

Choosing a direction at random he started walking, striding was more like it, the awkwardness of having longer legs fading after a while as he got used to them. His hair was the one thing he couldn't get used to, admittedly it had only been a few hours, but the length and wild style of his hair, how it stuck up oddly over to the left hand side and kept flicking into his face, was something that was definitely bothering him.

Sunnydale itself, even just walking the streets, felt different now. It was never particularly oppressive or scary in the day before, the sunlight hiding the true face and inhabitants of Sunnydale until the night came. But now the night felt even more free than he remembered the days being, even with his newfound freakdom he felt he could actually understand how the vampires must feel as they ran around at night.

Heading into town further he shook the thought away, the very thought of sympathising with vampires wouldn't have even entered his mind a few nights ago, let alone telling himself he could understand how they felt. Pushing the thought aside he simply put it down to shock, the fact he was a vampire himself now, even Giles and Buffy had said so, right before she'd tried to stake him of course.

Oddly he felt a twinge of a smile at the memory, the way Buffy had staked him while straddling him, if it wasn't for the stake she'd jammed into his chest at the same time, that would have been half his dreams come true.

Shaking the memory of Buffy straddling him aside for the moment he focused his ears, an odd sound shaking him out of his thoughts, not particularly an odd sound, one he actually knew quite well, but one that he definitely shouldn't be hearing in Sunnydale.

"What the…" He muttered to himself, curiosity getting the better as he moved to a jogging pace down the street, turning his head from side to side to look down the alley ways as he ran towards where he thought the sound was coming from.

He knew that sound, the 'snap hiss' sound was extremely distinctive, and now the sound of weapons clashing against each other loudly was definitely one he knew off by heart, one he'd heard hundreds of times watching the movies, and imitating himself with roles of Christmas wrapping paper because his parents would never buy him the actual toy.

"Now that's cool." He grinned to himself as he found the alley way where the familiar sounds were coming from, two colours lit up the walls and ground of the alley, a bright yellow and a sinister red, the blades clashing against each other viciously as the person wielding the red blade pushed forwards.

"I am Vader, you can't beat me!" The person wearing the Darth Vader costume shouted, even though the respirator and hisses of air escaping, it was obvious that wasn't the original Darth Vader in the costume, the voice oddly familiar as he swung the blade again and clashed against the yellow twin sided lightsaber the a girl was using to protect herself.

"God, get over yourself!" The girl shouted, stumbling back under Darth Vader's swings, only barely defending herself with her own lightsaber. "Like I even care!" She shouted dismissively.

"The Jedi will fall!" Vader shouted again, swinging forward with the red lightsaber, the girl only barely managing to defend herself this time.

"Hey!" Xander shouted from the alley entrance, moving forwards slowly. "Ok, firstly, cool," He grinned, baring his fangs without meaning to. "Secondly, hey!" He said, finally recognising the girl in the yellow and brown costume as Aphrodesia, one of the Cordettes from school.

"Xander?" 'Darth Vader' asked, the hissing respirator making the name sound even odder through the mask.

"Oh great," Aphrodesia muttered. "Looserville comes to back up his friend."

"Darth," Xander said, looking at the Darth Vader costume, the shiny black helmet lit up by the red and golden lightsaber blades.

"It's me, Jonathan," 'Darth Vader' hissed out from under the mask.

"Loserville," Aphrodesia muttered dismissively.

"Hey," Xander shot a glare at her before turning back to Darth Vader. "You know, I can understand the attacking here," He said with a grin. "And real lightsabers, definitely cool."

"Darth Loser here just attacked me," Aphrodesia said defensively. "Like I even know what's happening, I had to wear this stupid costume to take my brother out, and then, like, everything changed and I'm stood down town fighting some kid with this thing." She explained, shaking the lightsaber towards Xander. "Then Darth Loser here comes out and starts screaming about balancing the force or whatever, and attacks me!"

"Ok?" Xander asked in bemusement, looking at Jonathan for an explanation.

"I thought Vader would be cool," Jonathan explained, turning to Xander. "He never got bullied or anything, no one messed with him." He said defensively. "Now no one will mess with me either." He said firmly, the hissing mask making the tone of his voice more menacing than his voice had any right to be.

"Something freaky's happened ok?" Xander explained. "Just chill, I know some people who are working on fixing it right?"

"Thank god," Aphrodesia muttered. "Like losers like him have any right to go around attacking people who are actually somebody."

"Again, hey!" Xander said with a frown, seriously considering letting Jonathan finish the fight here.

"No!" Jonathan shouted out, swinging his lightsaber around to Xander. "You won't fix me! I'm Darth Vader now, not some kid that gets pushed around at school."

"Jonathan," Xander said wearily, backing away from the lightsaber, looking at the shimmering red blade wearily.

"Fine, you two losers fight it out between you," Aphrodesia said, shaking her head. "Like I can even figure out how to turn this thing off to get home anyway," She muttered to herself.

"I'm not a loser!" Jonathan shouted, turning back to Aphrodesia and swinging the lightsaber towards her, his clumsy swing only barely parried away by Aphrodesia's golden blade.

"Oh man," Xander said, backing away again, now the fact he'd been transformed into a vampire was only slightly less freaksome than being transformed into a real bad guy like Darth Vader, who obviously had issues with girls bullying him. "Drop it Jonathan." He said, as firmly as he could as he pulled out the silver Casull gun, levelling it down the alley way towards the Darth Vader costume.

"Finally," Aphrodesia muttered as she looked back at Xander. "Maybe you're not such a loser after all."

"Enough with the loser stuff," Xander said with a glare at her. "Maybe if you weren't picking on people all the time, they wouldn't be trying to kill you." He said firmly before turning back to Jonathan. "Look, I know how it is ok, but you don't need to go all Darth Vader on someone just because they call you names at school."

"Like you care!" Jonathan shouted, swinging his red lightsaber at Xander menacingly. "You're just the same, ignoring me at school, you and that Buffy girl, always walking off and letting the jocks do what they want!"

"Jonathan, really, drop it." Xander said firmly, backing away as Jonathan walked towards him, swinging the lightsaber from side to side, his gun still trained on Jonathan's chest.

"I thought you'd understand!" Jonathan shouted out, his mask and respirator hissing wildly. "But you're just like the others, just like her!" He screamed before lunging forward with the blade.

He didn't even have time to react before squeezing the trigger, the Casull handgun firing it's oversized bullet down the alley and slicing through his right hand, shredding the cybernetic appendage with ease before impacting Jonathan clean in the chest, sending him flying backwards and onto the floor, the lightsaber flying from his grasp and arcing in the air before falling to the floor, making a 'snap hiss' as the blade vanished back into the hilt as it hit the floor.

"Oh god!" Xander muttered, dropping the gun himself and moving to Jonathan. "Jonathan?" He asked, pressing his hands to Jonathan's chest where the very large bullet hole was obvious in his chest plate, practically destroying half of the front circuitry where red lights used to be blinking on his chest. "Jonathan!" He shouted again, frantically trying to see if there was any blood coming from his chest, the respirator still seemed to be working, as the constant hissing of breathing was the only sound in the alley way, the golden light from Aphrodesia's lightsaber now the only colour to light up the alley.

"You totally shot him!" Aphrodesia said, shock in her voice.

"I didn't mean to!" Xander defended himself, glaring at her before looking back at Jonathan. "How do you get this mask off anyway?" He muttered, trying his best to feel around for a catch anywhere on the mask so he could check on him.

"Like I should care!" Aphrodesia shot back. "Freak boy was trying to kill me, why should I care if you shot him?"

"Because he was turned into this just like you!" Xander shouted back. "He didn't ask for this, I didn't ask for this!" He practically screamed. "You wouldn't even care anyway." He said softly, reaching over and grabbing Jonathan's lightsaber and pocketing it before turning his gaze from Aphrodesia and back to Jonathan, sliding his arms underneath the black cape and standing up, easily picking 'Darth Vader' up, surprising himself with his own strength. "Just come on." He said, looking back at Aphrodesia.

"Like I'm going anywhere with you!" Aphrodesia glared back at him.

"You want to fix this or not?" Xander shot back. "'Cause guessing there's more people out there who got stuck in their costumes, wonder how many of them you bullied at school?" He asked with a glare. "You don't even know how to use a lightsaber, what if there's another Darth Vader out there? Or a Klingon, or Dracula?"

"Fine," Aphrodesia said softly, nodding her head in agreement. "Like I bullied anyone that counts anyway." She muttered to herself.

"He counts," Xander said firmly, glaring at Aphrodesia. "Just come on," He muttered, catching sight of his gun on the ground. "Can you…" He trailed off, nodding to his gun.

"Like I'm putting my fingerprints on that," Aphrodesia said dismissively. "You're the one who shot him!"

"And you're the one I'm going to shoot if you don't pick it up." Xander shot back with a glare. "Or maybe eat." He said with a grin, baring his new fangs at her in a bluff.

"Oh god!" Aphrodesia backed away quickly. "You're… you're…"

"Just come on," Xander said, shaking his head as Aphrodesia slowly knelt down and picked up his gun, the weight of it pulling her arms down as she walked with it.

"Like, how did you even shoot this thing?" Aphrodesia asked, still standing a good distance from Xander and holding the oversized gun awkwardly in two hands while trying to balancer her own lightsaber along with it.

"Instinct," Xander said simply as he walked out of the alley way, carrying Jonathan easily with the Darth Vader cape trailing between his arms, Aphrodesia's lightsaber lighting up the night as they started walking back to the school.

"So, like, what's with the freakshow anyway?" Aphrodesia asked as they walked along the high street. "Like, everyone turned into their costumes or something?"

"Something," Xander nodded slowly. "Can you turn that off or something?" He asked, looking down at the two golden blades that were lighting up the area. "It's not exactly subtle or anything."

"Like I even know how," Aphrodesia said, shaking the lightsaber and nearly dropping Xander's gun while shaking it in a vein hope to try and turn it off. "It was on when I just appeared down town, like I'd even be out there at night anyway."

"Try the middle buttons," Xander said, shaking his head at her dismissive attitude towards what had happened tonight.

"There are buttons?" Aphrodesia asked, lifting the blade up awkwardly to look for the mentioned buttons, but catching Xander's arm with the side of it, burning through his suit easily and scorching the skin underneath before he managed to jump away from it.

"Hey!" Xander shouted, glaring at her even as his arm and suit knitted itself back together.

"Like, sorry," Aphrodesia muttered as she found the buttons and pressed it. "How did you, like, do that anyway?" She asked, looking at where his arm had simply healed up in seconds where she'd caught it with the lightsaber.

"I don't know," Xander answered honestly as the two lightsaber blades snapped back into the hilt, the yellow glow around them vanishing with the light, leaving them just in the darkness of the Sunnydale streets again.

"Haven't you, like, got somewhere to put this anyway?" Aphrodesia asked, holding Xander's gun out awkwardly. "It's not exactly small or anything."

"Glad you noticed," Xander smirked to himself. "Here," He gestured, stopping in the street for a moment and turning to Aphrodesia, lowering his arms with Jonathan in them slightly so she could see the empty gun holster on his left side.

"Better," Aphrodesia said as she carefully put the gun away. "Dad hate's guns, he'd like freak if he even knew I was holding one."

"I won't tell him if you won't," Xander said with a small smile before looking at her. "So, what was your costume anyway?" He asked curiously, not remembering a yellow lightsaber or a twin bladed lightsaber from the movies.

"Like I know?" Aphrodesia shook her head. "My brother picked it, some game he's like obsessed with or something." She said dismissively. "My dad made me wear it to take him to this lame party, like I'd even want to wear something as geeky as this."

"And your brother?" Xander asked, wondering if they had another Darth Vader on the loose out there somewhere.

"Some pilot or something," Aphrodesia explained. "Hands something or whatever, like I care."

"Han Solo?" Xander asked carefully, a smile creeping on his face.

"Whatever," Aphrodesia shrugged. "Like I even know his geeky games or whatever they are. Like, I had this totally awesome costume picked out, then daddy just decides that I've got to take him to this lame party, like we even got there, at least the freakiness got me out of that lameness."

"Right," Xander answered, not really knowing what else to say, conversation with Aphrodesia so far had been even worse than trying to actually have a conversation with Cordelia.

"Oh god, is that Larry?" Aphrodesia asked, looking ahead to where someone was crouched down in one of the shop doorways.

"Uh, yeah," Xander nodded, looking ahead to where she was looking, his night vision obviously far better than hers as he could easily make out Larry's face, only the scruffy hair and sideburns definitely didn't belong to the football jock he knew, neither did the large metallic claws coming out of his hand. "Stay here." He said wearily, kneeling down slowly and lowering Jonathan to the ground. "Just keep an eye on him."

"Like, whatever," Aphrodesia shrugged but moved to stand by Jonathan's limp form anyway as Xander slowly approached Larry.

"Hey, Larry?" Xander asked hesitantly, holding his hands up in a non-threatening manner as he walked up the street.

"What?" Larry all but growled out. "Oh, Harris," He said, catching himself as he stared up at Xander's tall form. "Tell me this is some freaky dream, right?" He asked, his voice almost begging Xander.

"'Fraid not," Xander said, shaking his head slowly. "You ok?" He asked, looking at the shining blades that were coming out of Larry's fists.

"Do I look ok?" Larry shouted out, holding his hands up for Xander to see.

"Yeah, sorry," Xander said hesitantly. "So, uh, Wolverine?"

"He's cool," Larry said defensively as he stood up, his height now barely the same as Buffy's as he looked up at Xander.

"No argument there," Xander nodded quickly, noting the dog tags and costume Larry was wearing.

"You grown or am I smaller?" Larry asked, staring up at Xander carefully, eying the two large guns that Xander was carrying on his waist.

"Bit of both I think," Xander said carefully, not wanting to anger the jock who had already figured out something had gone on here. "Are those…" He asked, looking down at the blades.

"Can't get them off," Larry said quietly, looking up at Xander. "You know this stuff right? The freaky stuff, you and that Buffy chick, you're always around when this freaky stuff happens, you can fix this right?"

"We're working on it," Xander nodded carefully, not having realised that other people had actually took notice that Buffy with him and Willow were always taking care of this stuff. "We're heading to the school now, Jonathan and Aphrodesia got caught up in it as well." He explained as Larry looked passed him to where Aphrodesia was stood by the 'Darth Vader' on the floor.

"Oh man, not her," Larry muttered to himself, rolling his eyes. "Even the football team stays away from her."

"I know why," Xander muttered with a small smile. "Come on, we'll do our best to fix this alright?"

"You can fix it?" Larry said hopefully, looking down at the claws coming out of his hands. "Put me back to normal right? So I can play football again?"

"We're doing our best," Xander said with a nod, hoping Giles and the rest back at the library had some clue on how to fix this by now.

"Are we, like, going yet?" Aphrodesia called out. "'Cause downtown at night, is so like last year."

"Why did you bring here along?" Larry asked quietly as he walked alongside Xander back to where Aphrodesia and Jonathan were.

"I kinda saved her from Darth Jonathan there," Xander explained.

"Again, why?" Larry asked, looking up awkwardly at Xander. With his new stature, he was barely five feet tall, though still as wide as he had always been, giving him quite an intimidating presence despite his height. "Hey." He said as they approached Aphrodesia, Xander kneeling down again to pick up Jonathan gently. "What happened to him?"

"Xander shot him," Aphrodesia said with a shrug. "Saving my life, like obviously."

"Again, why?" Larry asked, looking up at Xander again.

"I've been asking myself the same," Xander muttered, rolling his eyes as he led the way again back towards the school.

* * *

"I got it,"

Buffy and Willow both looked up from the table where they were sat, watching as Larry from the football team pushed the doors open, Buffy's eyes immediately going wide as Larry's claws scratched along one of the doors, easily slicing through the wood and puncturing out the other side as if the solid wooden door was made of tissue paper.

"Thanks man," Xander nodded as he came through after Larry, watching as Larry pulled his hand free of the door, nearly pulling the door off its hinges as he did so. "We'll have to figure out how to get those to go back in or something."

"Yeah," Larry nodded as he followed Xander into the library.

"Xander?" Buffy asked, staring at the odd entourage Xander had brought into the library before focusing on the odd body in Xander's arms. "What happened?" She asked as Xander strode over, laying the body on the table carefully.

"It's a mess out there," Xander said honestly. "Giles?" He asked, looking towards the library office.

"Ahh, good Xander, I was hoping that…" Giles trailed off as he came out of the office, stopping mid-sentence and step as he came into the library itself and was greeted by the sight of two more people with Xander, and Darth Vader on the table. "Good lord." He muttered to himself.

"You'll be saying that a lot," Xander said with a small smile. "Larry, Wolverine, whichever," He said with a shrug, introducing the football jock. "Aphrodesia, who I'm not quite sure what she's supposed to be, but seems to be a Jedi of some sort." He said with a nod towards Aphrodesia who seemed to be ignoring all of them. "And Jonathan, Darth Vader." He said, finally, pointing towards the table. "Who I kinda shot after he tried to slice me in half with his lightsaber."

"You shot Jonathan?" Willow gasped out.

"He was coming at me with a lightsaber," Xander defended himself before Aphrodesia interrupted.

"Like totally saved my life," Aphrodesia commented. "Loser boy was like totally crazy out there."

"Remind me why I did that?" Xander shot back to her.

"You… you mean to say that each of you, I mean, well, were transformed in some way tonight?" Giles asked, looking around the group.

"Harris says you can help," Larry said, holding up his hands so everyone could see the long metallic claws sticking out from between his knuckles. "'Cause really sucks being the tiny one here."

"Hey," Buffy frowned, looking across to where Larry was around the same height as her now.

"Giles, you gotta help here." Xander interrupted. "I didn't mean to shoot him, really, but…"

"Quite understandable," Giles nodded, thinking that if Darth Vader came towards him swinging a lightsaber then he'd most likely have done the same thing if the situation was reversed. "Is he…?"

"Breathing," Xander nodded, the quiet hissing of Darth Vader's respirator easily audible in the quiet of the library. "But I can't get the helmet off or anything to see if he's ok."

"I don't seem to see any blood," Giles mused as he got closer, probing Jonathan's costume with his hand, feeling around where Xander's bullet had made a rather large hole in the front plate of the costume, looking down at the half destroyed right hand, where several fingers and the thumb were actually missing, exposing the robotic circuitry underneath the torn black glove. "Actually, I rather…" He trailed off as he awkwardly moved his hand into the hole and felt around a bit before pulling something out. "Yes, it would seem the armour is quite bulletproof, even to one as large a calibre as this it seems." He said with a frown, looking at the disfigured bullet, which even though was misshapen by the impact into Jonathan's armour, was still larger than any bullet he had seen before.

"Oh thank god," Xander breathed out, sinking into one of the chairs by the table. "So, he's going to be alright then?"

"I… I wouldn't know to be perfectly honest," Giles said with a frown, looking at the circuitry that had been half destroyed by Xander's bullet. "My knowledge of the character involved her is somewhat lacking I fear, if, like you both," He said, looking between Xander and Larry. "The machinery here is actually part of his body, then I would be loath to tamper with it further without any knowledge of what this machinery actually does for him."

"He needs it," Willow said quickly. "Darth Vader, he needs it, the life support system, it's what's keeping him alive." She explained. "In the last movie it got damaged and he died because of it."

"I see," Giles nodded carefully. "Then one would assume removing the mask itself…"

"He needs it on to breathe," Willow said, shaking her head quickly. "The entire suit was designed to keep him alive. Robotic arms and legs, breathing equipment, there's so much I can't remember it all."

"Quite alright," Giles nodded, thankful for the information Willow had managed to provide so far. "Perhaps finding some way to repair this damage would be our first step before…" He trailed off as the Darth Vader mask moved from side to side agitatedly, mumbling sounds coming from inside. "Oh good lord, Xander!" He called Xander's attention to where Jonathan was trying to say something and sit up.

"Hold on, hold on," Xander said quickly, standing up from the chair and helping Jonathan sit up slowly. "Sorry about, you know, shooting you and all." He said hesitantly. "You ok in there?" He asked, looking at the mask and feeling odd talking to Jonathan without seeing his face.

"He should be the one apologising," Aphrodesia broke in. "Like, what did you think you were doing loser, attacking me! God, like, who do you even think you are anyway?"

Both Xander and Buffy jumped back in sequence as Jonathan's hand came up sharply, the destroyed fingers and thumb sparking wildly as Jonathan pointed the hand at Aphrodesia, raising her off the ground and choking her, her lightsaber falling to the ground as she tried to free herself from the invisible grasp that was lifting her off the ground by her throat.

"Good lord!" Giles gasped out, dashing over to try and help Aphrodesia, though unable to feel or interrupt anything that could be choking her.

"Jonathan!" Xander called out, trying to interrupt his concentration. "She didn't mean it, she's just like that ok? You don't have to force choke her or anything!"

"He's doing that?" Larry asked, shocked at the way Jonathan was easily lifting Aphrodesia off the ground and choking her with his mind.

"Jonathan, stop it!" Willow spoke up, moving to stand between Jonathan and Aphrodesia. "Just because she's a b, i, t, c, h," She spelled out quietly. "Doesn't mean you can choke her to death." She said, looking down at Jonathan softly. "Put her down, now buster." She said, trying to be as firm as she could and adopting her 'resolve face'.

More mumbling came from Jonathan's mask before he lowered his hand, Aphrodesia collapsing to the floor unceremoniously, dropping like a doll with its strings cut, to the library floor where she immediately started coughing and massaging her throat.

"Gotta say, I'd be doing the same after two minutes with her," Larry muttered to himself.

"Perhaps we should all just try and calm down here," Giles said with a frown, helping Aphrodesia up from the ground until she pushed herself away from him.

"God, freaks, all of you!" Aphrodesia shouted out. "Like I even care about any of this anyway!" She shouted, coughing slightly before turning and running out of the library.

"Miss, um, you forgot you…" Giles frowned as he looked down, seeing the long metallic tube that the girl had been carrying when she came into the library. "Oh god lord." He muttered as he reached down and picked up the offending item.

"Here," Xander said as he walked over, holding his hand out for the lightsaber.

"Is that…" Willow trailed off in awe, staring at the long silver cylinder as Giles placed it gingerly in Xander's hand.

"Yeah," Xander nodded slowly, very carefully putting the lightsaber in his pocket where it stuck out the top awkwardly, longer than the one he'd picked up from Jonathan by a good three or four inches.

"It's real?" Willow asked in shock.

"What?" Buffy asked, looking between Xander and Willow. "What's the what?"

"Her lightsaber," Willow said in reverence.

"Lightsaber?" Buffy asked, scrunching her nose as the weird name. "Those flashy sword things?"

"Yeah," Xander nodded as he came back to the table. "Jonathan, you ok in there, I mean, I know she can be, well, you know…"

"Scored points with me though," Larry said with a smile and a shrug. "Hey, sorry about, you know, anything…" He said with a hesitant shrug, trying to think back to if he'd ever done anything to Jonathan, but without seeing his face, not really knowing if he had or not, but simply not wanted to be on the other end of the choking and levitating business.

"Are you ok?" Willow asked, moving up to stand around where Jonathan was sat on the table so she could see his face properly.

"You hear that?" Buffy asked, looking around.

"Yeah," Xander nodded. "We can here you Jonathan." Xander nodded to him, his hearing along with Buffy's, far superior to the rest of them in the room.

"Got it too," Larry said bashfully. "Sorry about the swirlies man." He apologised hesitantly, ready to be lifted in the air by the Dark Vader choke hold any second.

"It's ok," Jonathan said from inside the mask, only a faint mumbling coming out to the rest of the library.

"He says it's ok," Xander translated for the rest of the group who didn't have enhanced hearing.

"You… you can all hear that?" Giles asked, looking around to where Xander, Larry and Buffy nodded. "I assume them, that the damaged equipment here, would have been perhaps part of the audio system to allow Jonathan here to speak through the mask?"

"He says he can still hear you," Xander translated more muffled mumblings.

"Yes, quite," Giles nodded, taking his glasses off and polishing them against his shirt. "I apologise Jonathan, I automatically assumed that the lack of speech meant you were unable to hear us as well."

"Can you still breathe in there?" Willow asked softly.

"He says he's breathing ok," Larry translated this time. "It's just the voice thing that got busted."

"That's good news then," Giles said in relief. "Rather, that you can still breathe of course, not the damage to the equipment needed for us to hear you I mean."

"He said he knows what you mean," Xander translated with a smile. "Sorry about shooting you, but you were kinda crazy down there." He explained with a shrug. "Not that I don't understand choking her, 'cause I'm kinda with you on that one."

"Hey!" Willow frowned, slapping Xander in the chest.

"I'm with Darth," Larry nodded in agreement. "But, can I be second on the fixing thing?" He asked, turning to Giles and holding his claws up. "'Cause kinda needing to scratch here, and don't wanna slice anything off, if you know what I mean."

"Yes," Giles coughed quietly as he replaced his glasses. "Quite."

"Huh?" Buffy asked, looking between Giles and Larry.

"Guy stuff," Larry and Xander replied at the same time, causing Willow and Buffy to share a glance.

"Hey, do you want to…" Xander trailed off as he stepped aside, making room for Jonathan to move around so he was sat on the table before sliding off of it and standing up on his own. "You're not going to be force choking people or anything right?" Xander asked hopefully.

"If you'll excuse me," Giles said, nodding as the phone in the office started to ring, before he made his way away from the group and back into the office, closing the door behind him.

"This is all a bit freaky," Buffy muttered to herself, looking around to where Xander was towering above the rest of them with ease, Larry was now a bit shorter than her, where he'd been the prince of the football team before, but with foot long metal claws coming out from his hands, and Darth Jonathan stood about the same height as Giles in silence, aside from the rhythmic hissing from his mask.

"Just be glad we didn't get stuck like it," Willow said quietly, looking around herself. "Imagine being a ghost forever." She said with a frown, happy that she'd managed to find a sweater and pants to pull on before anyone else saw the outfit Buffy had had her wearing under the ghost sheet.

"That would have sucked," Buffy nodded in agreement.

"What happened anyway?" Larry asked, looking around.

"Um, that was me," Xander said hesitantly, holding up his hand. "Not the causing thing, but the stopping thing anyway." He explained quickly. "The costume guy, he put a spell on everything I guess. So we all turned into our costumes." He explained gingerly.

"Magic?" Larry asked, doing his best not to laugh at the idea, the fact there were three metal knives coming out of his hand, and he was stood alongside Darth Vader was enough to convince him that something seriously freaky was going on here.

"Magic's real, so are vampires, demons, and other icky things," Buffy explained with a shrug.

"Exhibit a," Xander grinned, baring his fangs for Larry to see.

"You're a vampire?" Larry asked with wide eyes, looking up at Xander. "I thought vampires were all biting and killing and stuff?"

"They normally are," Buffy nodded. "Xander's not a real vampire, or not a normal vampire, he's special."

"Like Angel," Willow filled in helpfully.

"Not like Angel," Buffy said at the same time Xander defended himself.

"I'm not like Angel!" Xander said firmly.

"Riiight," Larry drawled out. "I'm guessing there's a story there, but this is all too freaky for me to even care right now." He said with a frown, gently sitting down on one of the chairs for a moment until it started creaking under his weight before he stood up again. "Seriously, what's with that?" He demanded as he turned around and glared at the chair.

"Oh, yeah," Xander nodded as Jonathan mumbled something.

"What, it's on my bones?" Larry asked, looking at Jonathan, where he was looking back at him through the Darth Vader mask. "Seriously?" He asked with wide eyes as Jonathan continued to explain how much metal was in Wolverine's body and how it got there.

"Ewww, they did that to a person?" Buffy asked with a wince as Jonathan explained how the military had cut into Wolverine's body and laced his entire skeleton with the liquid metal before letting it harden around his bones.

"I didn't need to know that," Larry said with a frown, looking quite pale as he imagined the same operation being done to himself.

"Me either," Buffy said in a quiet voice as Giles came out of the library office.

"Please tell me you've got something?" Xander asked, looking back to Giles, where they'd been talking he had been concentrating on that, not listening in to the conversation Giles had been having in his office separately.

"In some degree, yes." Giles nodded in agreement. "I'm quite at a loss to explain, well, the transformation here of you two," He explained, indicating Jonathan and Larry. "Along with the existence of the young lady's fictional weapon should I say."

"No lady there," Larry whispered with a roll of his eyes.

"Regardless," Giles carried on, ignoring Larry's comment. "The transformations, much like those experienced by Buffy and Willow, should have ended when Xander interrupted the spell in question." Giles explained.

"Less words," Larry said with a frown.

"What he said," Xander nodded in agreement.

"Yes, well," Giles frowned, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the two oddly different teens agreeing with each other. "The fact that your costumes, or should I say the characters possessing you for this evening, were fictional, leads me to wonder what focus was used for the spell in question. However, the person possessing Xander here, which led to his transformation, destroyed the focus it would seem, ending the spell prematurely."

"You did that?" Larry asked, looking at Xander.

"The Vampire Alucard did," Giles corrected him with a nod. "And since I have just had the… pleasure, of being interrogated by Sir Integra herself, I would say that Alucard himself remembers the ordeal quite well."

"What's the difference then?" Larry asked with a frown. "You know, between us two?"

"Like I said," Giles explained with a sigh. "Your costume, much like Jonathan's, and if I'm not mistaken, the young lady earlier. Was modelled on a fictional character, Darth Vader for example." He said, indicating to where Jonathan was stood. "Whereas the clothing Xander was wearing, belonged to an actual vampire in the employ of the Hellsing organisation in London."

"If I'd known, I'd have got as Obi Wan," Xander said with a grin, baring his fangs accidentally.

"So?" Larry asked with a frown. "Real, comic, movie, what's the diff?"

"Yeah," Xander asked, not really sure what it actually meant.

"The difference, as you say," Giles said with a frown. "To be perfectly honest, I am unsure myself," He said with a sigh, leaning on the table and taking his glasses off. "The fact that the transformation for you three, and perhaps the young lady as well, hasn't worn off yet, is quite befuddling."

"Huh?" Larry asked.

"He doesn't know," Xander translated, having got used to Giles' terms for a while now and translating them into normal terms for him to understand.

"Why didn't he just say?" Larry asked, looking to Xander who just shrugged at him.

"Good lord," Giles muttered to himself as he started polishing his glasses on his shirt. "Yes, the fact remains that I am still as much in the dark as to the cause of these transformations as either of you," He explained with a sigh. "Sir Integra of the Hellsing Organisation has given me some information for Xander, which apparently is paramount for his survival, as unfamiliar with this breed of vampire as I am, I would be remiss not to explain that her expertise far outweighs my own on the matter."

"'K," Xander nodded, accepting what Giles was saying. "But it's not forever right, you'll figure out a way to turn us all back right?"

"Xander, as much as I wish to help here," Giles said earnestly. "To all of you," He said, indicating Larry and Jonathan as well. "The fact remains, the person responsible for these transformations, perhaps the person who knew how to reverse the spell itself, was killed earlier this night by his own chaos." He explained, looking away from Xander as he spoke.

"So, guy got what was coming to him," Larry shrugged.

"He means that the person who did the spell, was the only one who could reverse it safely," Willow explained in a small voice. "And he's dead."

"Oh," Larry said, catching on after Willow's explanation. "Damn." He muttered to himself.

"Yeah," Xander nodded along with mumblings coming from Jonathan's helmet expressing much the same dismay, not wanting to tell the others that it was him, his body anyway, that had killed the person they needed to help them. "Damn sums it up." He said with a sigh.


End file.
